Why did “The New DVD Show” fail? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Schmo · 08-01-2019, 09:03 AM

Considering the talent in front of and behind the camera, it should have been a hit.

Duster76 · 08-05-2019, 10:18 PM

To begin with, The biggest problem the show had was Reiner ripped off Reiner. He essentially created a template out of the original series and used it to develop the new series. Fanny Flagg is the new Sally, Marty Brill the new Buddy, Hope Lange the new Laura, David Doyle as the new Mel. The show has him still working in show business and the episodes revolve around his work and home life. This was definitely not the way to go, fans of the original series were immediately going to make comparisons (Reiner invited them to do so) and let's face it, the original series was a masterpiece.

Looking at the series itself, the cast had no chemistry, Van Dyke and Moore sizzled on screen, Van Dyke and Lange fizzled. The rest of cast didn't click any better so by season 3, we have an almost completely retooled show. The final season the show did a little better than season 2, but creatively it was still wasn't close to where it needed to be.

Samme · 08-10-2019, 10:48 PM

I agree with all of that. It got better the 3rd season but I can't remember if it was actually good at the point. The first 2 seasons DVD was the only funny person on the screen. The rest of them were terrible and the show was a big disappointment. Right, we compared 'em all and, except for DVD, they all came off as 3rd rate imitations of the originals. And we were right.

TVFactFan · 08-16-2019, 08:17 PM

Looks like the Emergence of Monday Night Football

Schmo · 08-16-2019, 08:21 PM

I think that Hope Lange was better at drama, despite winning two Emmys for her role in the sitcom “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”. What what little I know about the latter, the humor was more subtle than the typical sitcom.

retroTVfan4ever · 08-16-2019, 10:12 PM

The 1970's series didn't exactly fail because it ran for 3 seasons, but it's mostly forgotten today because it's seldom seen and is completely overshadowed by the far more popular 1960's series.

It's true that the 1960's series is the better series, but the 1970's series is waiting to be discovered again, it would be a good candidate for a channel like Antenna TV. Does anyone know what the episode status is of the 1970's series? Are the episodes available for a syndication run?

TVFactFan · 08-16-2019, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

The 1970's series didn't exactly fail because it ran for 3 seasons, but it's mostly forgotten today because it's seldom seen and is completely overshadowed by the far more popular 1960's series.

It's true that the 1960's series is the better series, but the 1970's series is waiting to be discovered again, it would be a good candidate for a channel like Antenna TV. Does anyone know what the episode status is of the 1970's series? Are the episodes available for a syndication run?

It was last aired on Good Life TV network in 2004 and aired on TNT in the early 90's.

Alan Brady's Hair · 08-16-2019, 10:38 PM

I think Dick van Dyke started with a three-year commitment, so three years wasn't necessarily a successful run. Forty-five years later, I can't recall anyone ever mentioning anything about this show to me. It was just an uninspired show.

retroTVfan4ever · 08-17-2019, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

It was last aired on Good Life TV network in 2004 and aired on TNT in the early 90's.

If the series hasn't been seen on TV since 2004, then the time is long overdue for it to be shown again. This would be a good series for Antenna TV to pick up. Would be nice if the series got released on DVD but it's probably unlikely to happen.

Some episodes can currently be found on You Tube, including the controversial one when the Preston's daughter Annie accidentally sees her parents making love in the bedroom.

It might have been a mistake naming this sitcom The New Dick Van Dyke Show because that automatically drew comparisons to the 1960's sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show. A better name for the 1970's sitcom might have been Dick Preston And Family, or anything else besides calling it The New Dick Van Dyke Show.

Interesting thing about actress Angela Powell who played the role of Annie Preston, I looked her up on IMDB and The New Dick Van Dyke Show is her one and only acting credit. That is interesting but is also unusual.

TVFactFan · 08-17-2019, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

If the series hasn't been seen on TV since 2004, then the time is long overdue for it to be shown again. This would be a good series for Antenna TV to pick up. Would be nice if the series got released on DVD but it's probably unlikely to happen.

Some episodes can currently be found on You Tube, including the controversial one when the Preston's daughter Annie accidentally sees her parents making love in the bedroom.

It might have been a mistake naming this sitcom The New Dick Van Dyke Show because that automatically drew comparisons to the 1960's sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show. A better name for the 1970's sitcom might have been Dick Preston And Family, or anything else besides calling it The New Dick Van Dyke Show.

Interesting thing about actress Angela Powell who played the role of Annie Preston, I looked her up on IMDB and The New Dick Van Dyke Show is her one and only acting credit. That is interesting but is also unusual.

Yeah since it's been 15 years it is now falling into that "lost Sitcom" category

TV Guy · 08-23-2019, 12:53 PM

Dick did have a three-year commitment and if he hadn’t had it, CBS likely would have cancelled much earlier. But in the third season, they moved it to Sundays and the ratings picked up. After all those seasons contractually bound to pick it up, CBS actually wanted a fourth season. But Carl Reiner had quit the show after CBS refused to air an episode in which Dick’s daughter walked in on Dick and Jenny while they were having sex (it eventually aired in syndication). Dick didn’t want to do the show without him. And Hope Lange wanted to quit. So it just faded away.

Duster76 · 08-24-2019, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TV Guy

Dick did have a three-year commitment and if he hadn’t had it, CBS likely would have cancelled much earlier. But in the third season, they moved it to Sundays and the ratings picked up. After all those seasons contractually bound to pick it up, CBS actually wanted a fourth season. But Carl Reiner had quit the show after CBS refused to air an episode in which Dick’s daughter walked in on Dick and Jenny while they were having sex (it eventually aired in syndication). Dick didn’t want to do the show without him. And Hope Lange wanted to quit. So it just faded away.

"But in the third season, they moved it to Sundays and the ratings picked up"

The show moved from Saturday to Sunday for season 2 not 3, the Sunday move didn't work at all, the show dropped to 55 in the ratings. The show moved to Monday at 9:30 for season 3 and it did rebound a bit jumping to 40. It probably benefited from having Lucy as the 9:00 show, ABC had football which started at 9, and NBC was showing a movie also starting at 9:00, so the Lucy audience really had limited options at this point.

"CBS actually wanted a fourth season".

Where did you get this piece of information? One of the posters used the term uninspired to describe the series, and that hits the nail on the head. I doubt CBS would have renewed the show especially since Here's Lucy was leaving the schedule.

treky · 09-14-2019, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

It was last aired on Good Life TV network in 2004 and aired on TNT in the early 90's.

TV LAND showed a couple episodes back in the early 2000s (before the channel became

)

08-01-2019, 09:03 AM	#1
Schmo Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 24, 2013 Posts: 164	Why did “The New DVD Show” fail? Considering the talent in front of and behind the camera, it should have been a hit.

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08-05-2019, 10:18 PM	#2
Duster76 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 01, 2008 Location: New jersey Posts: 341	To begin with, The biggest problem the show had was Reiner ripped off Reiner. He essentially created a template out of the original series and used it to develop the new series. Fanny Flagg is the new Sally, Marty Brill the new Buddy, Hope Lange the new Laura, David Doyle as the new Mel. The show has him still working in show business and the episodes revolve around his work and home life. This was definitely not the way to go, fans of the original series were immediately going to make comparisons (Reiner invited them to do so) and let's face it, the original series was a masterpiece. Looking at the series itself, the cast had no chemistry, Van Dyke and Moore sizzled on screen, Van Dyke and Lange fizzled. The rest of cast didn't click any better so by season 3, we have an almost completely retooled show. The final season the show did a little better than season 2, but creatively it was still wasn't close to where it needed to be.

08-10-2019, 10:48 PM	#3
Samme Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 01, 2001 Posts: 524	I agree with all of that. It got better the 3rd season but I can't remember if it was actually good at the point. The first 2 seasons DVD was the only funny person on the screen. The rest of them were terrible and the show was a big disappointment. Right, we compared 'em all and, except for DVD, they all came off as 3rd rate imitations of the originals. And we were right.

08-16-2019, 08:17 PM	#4
TVFactFan Member Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 17, 2002 Posts: 89,969	Looks like the Emergence of Monday Night Football

08-16-2019, 08:21 PM	#5
Schmo Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 24, 2013 Posts: 164	I think that Hope Lange was better at drama, despite winning two Emmys for her role in the sitcom “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”. What what little I know about the latter, the humor was more subtle than the typical sitcom.

08-16-2019, 10:12 PM	#6
retroTVfan4ever Member Senior Member Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 4,086	The 1970's series didn't exactly fail because it ran for 3 seasons, but it's mostly forgotten today because it's seldom seen and is completely overshadowed by the far more popular 1960's series. It's true that the 1960's series is the better series, but the 1970's series is waiting to be discovered again, it would be a good candidate for a channel like Antenna TV. Does anyone know what the episode status is of the 1970's series? Are the episodes available for a syndication run?

08-16-2019, 10:38 PM	#8
Alan Brady's Hair Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 30, 2014 Posts: 3,862	I think Dick van Dyke started with a three-year commitment, so three years wasn't necessarily a successful run. Forty-five years later, I can't recall anyone ever mentioning anything about this show to me. It was just an uninspired show.

08-23-2019, 12:53 PM	#11
TV Guy Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 24, 2001 Location: Boston, MA, USA Posts: 2,761	Dick did have a three-year commitment and if he hadn’t had it, CBS likely would have cancelled much earlier. But in the third season, they moved it to Sundays and the ratings picked up. After all those seasons contractually bound to pick it up, CBS actually wanted a fourth season. But Carl Reiner had quit the show after CBS refused to air an episode in which Dick’s daughter walked in on Dick and Jenny while they were having sex (it eventually aired in syndication). Dick didn’t want to do the show without him. And Hope Lange wanted to quit. So it just faded away.